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Title: The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni, Bruce Penman ISBN: 0-14-044274-X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: March, 1984 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Music Drama
Comment: I recently read this book upon the recommendation of my Italian teacher. I agree with most of the reviews here that it is a masterpiece of sorts. It's a whirling panorama of life in seventeenth- century Italy--famine, plague, riots, and Spanish occupation. The story is melodramatic but so is much of Dickens. While I was reading it, I thought that it would make a compelling grand opera; I kept hearing the overture of Verdi's La Forza del Destino playing along in my mind. It's a mystery why Verdi, who revered Manzoni and dedicated his requiem mass to him, never attempted to dramatize this work. The two seem tailor-made for each other.
My only major criticisms with Manzoni's magnum opus would be with the way he introduces fascinating characters, such as the Nun of Monza and Father Cristoforo, who would themselves be suitable subjects for novelistic treatment, and then whisks them away never to be heard from again for hundreds of pages. The Nun of Monza's fate is relayed in a couple of sentences. And the hero and heroine, Renzo and Lucia, are rather conventional in comparison, less complex, less multilayered, than some of the other characters. But nineteenth-century literary conventions would normally put such types at the center of the action anyway, so one can't really fault Manzoni for basically following fashion. (And this defect would not have made mattered so much in an operatic form where the music takes over much of the dramatization.)
Another point of contention: the heavy air of Christian redemption and piety that hangs over the latter portions of the novel in which formerly evil characters reform their wicked ways and find God. It can be a rather thick and gooey mess for a modern reader unused to all this sanctimoniousness; in its own way, it's as offensive as Dickens' sickly sweet, masochistic, prolonged dwelling over the death of Little Nell.
Overall, Manzoni's inspiration is erratic and he doesn't always concentrate on the aspects of the story that I would have liked. This may be because he's more of an instinctual artist than a thinking one, like Stendhal, whose Charterhouse of Parma, bridging the gap between thought and feeling, makes an interesting comparison in its portrait of nineteenth-century Italy. I would also agree with one of the reviews below: Manzoni is clearly not Shakespeare or Dostoyevsky. His writing lacks the unity of conception, the inexplicable greatness that makes the works of Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky so powerful, so relevant to all humanity. Nevertheless, this is a vital, important work in Italian letters and useful as a document of seventeenth-century Italian history.
Rating: 4
Summary: timeless, well written, nonetheless overrated
Comment: This book is, if I am not mistaken, considered one of the greatest pieces of Italian literature. The characters are enjoyably human, the pace keeps you interested, and the writer paints an excellent picture of the times. You see renaissance Italy with its plagues, religious uproar, and swaggering bravos.
Since religion is a very emotional issue for me, I was tempted to give the book a three or two rating. In fairness, it deserves at least the four I gave it. It describes the period beautifully and gives perfect exemplars for many different modes of behavior.
Here are my criticisms. If you haven't read the story, these will spoil it, so have a care. I have three: First, the conversion of the master villian struck me as horrendously done. He is touched by the innocent pleading and prayers of his victim. Personally, I find it laughable that a man of such black reputation has never encountered similar circumstances before. Why should this person's naive pleas for clemency be any different? Second, the conversion of the Unnamed can be compared to Darth Vader's salvation at the end of the film Return of the Jedi. Everyone is ecstatic over the redemption of this evil figure, only because of his power and charisma. Just as no one cared for the other 100,000 troops that died on the Death Star, the bishop who visits the new convert spares a paltry few words for all of his underlings and their spiritual welfare. The bishop does not visit them. The people are not thankful when they convert. We are thrilled when an archvillian switches allegiances, but like Manzoni, we couldn't care less about the salvation of any of his lesser followers. This supposed Christian triumph is in fact only an illustration of human fascination with power. Third, the reason for The Betrothed to marry despite the lady's promise to become a nun is absurd. What if their betrothal had not been official? Would God be so cruel as to hold her to a promise made while she was fearful for her life? That vow, like any other promise made under duress, cannot have been valid.
I hope you'll forgive my rant. The story is a testament to its time and certainly one of the better books I had to suffer through during college. :)
Rating: 5
Summary: amazing
Comment: Having just finished war and peace, I wondered would could possibly be better? Then, on hearing that "the betrothed" was of equal merit as a historical novel, i gave it a test drive. Like Tolstoy, Manzoni is a master of detail and character. Not only is this an enthralling story and a good record of an very turbulent period of Italy's past, but is also deeply religious. I find myself left breathless after just about each chapter. Manzoni actually makes faith and believe make sense. Reading "I Promessi Esposi" makes me proud to be catholic. I would say this kind of book should be required reading in high schoolbut it's to good for that.
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Title: Promise of Fidelity by Alessandro Manzoni, Omero Sabatini ISBN: 0759653437 Publisher: 1stBooks Library Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Leopard by Guiseppe Di Lampedusa ISBN: 0679731210 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 23 July, 1991 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Roar on the Other Side: A Guide for Student Poets by Suzanne U. Clark ISBN: 1885767668 Publisher: Canon Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Little Novels of Sicily: Stories by Giovanni Verga, D.H. Lawrence, D. H. Lawrence ISBN: 188364254X Publisher: Steerforth Press Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Orlando Furioso (Oxford World's Classics) by Ludovico Ariosto, Guido Waldman ISBN: 0192836773 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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